A year ago, our somatic cell count (SCC) was running in the upper 300,000s, and we were looking to make improvements. We had previously discussed SCC and measures that could help reduce it with our part-time employees (who do much of the milking), but it seemed like they weren’t overly interested, and we weren’t making much progress.

Although the Southeast has suffered through some horrendous flooding in the last few weeks, most of the country has experienced a warm, dry period this late summer and early fall.

Schaefer Ventilation Equipment, a manufacturer of ventilation and thermal comfort products, has been acquired by Pinnacle Products International Inc., a manufacturer of portable heating and ventilation equipment.

AirMotion Sciences Inc. has introduced its new line of 16- to 24-foot HVLS (high volume, low speed) fans, to be known as Big Simple Fans.

Neogen has introduced a mobile-friendly website that puts the power of the latest dairy genomic technology in the palm of your hand.

Deanna BooijinkTerritory Sales ManagerVan Beek Natural ScienceVisalia, California

The board of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today set Jan. 1, 2017, as the date for dairy farmers participating in the industry’s Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Animal Care Program to phase out the routine practice of tail docking.

Emilie StrandHuman Resources ConsultantCentral Wisconsin Ag ServicesBlack River Falls, Wisconsin

Utilizing manure as fertilizer is one common approach to capturing the inherent value in manure and reducing the costs of off-farm inputs. But the approach has its limitations; particularly in situations where there is more manure than can be responsibly managed on the available land.

There are many things a farmer can do to help the environment. In the dairy industry, utilizing anaerobic digesters to capture methane gas and produce electricity is a primary way to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While dairy farmers can actively take measures to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint, those efforts are not always economically viable.